Charmoula-Roasted Vegetables (with a Fried Egg)
When you have documented, for anyone who would listen or read, that you’ll put a fried egg (or a handful of nuts) on top of anything, can you rescue this format (bowl of something + egg on top = B,L, or D) from the oblivion of those rando hodgepodge dishes meant to be eaten only in your own company?
Here’s one path to redemption: the fancy leftovers from a dinner party.
One of the only times I turn to actual recipes written by other people is when I’m hosting friends. It’s an odd habit, even a bad one. Dinner party rules say never to make a new recipes when eight hungry guests await the results, and they are probably right. I ran out of tin foil to cover the pans of the new-to-me fish, old-to-Paula Wolfert
tagine, and the potato slices on top of the fish filets cooked so slowly that I dirtied an extra pot because it had a cover that kept the heat in better than tin foil. In the end, dinner was good (enough), and I didn’t breathe a word about the worrisome not-quite-soft potatoes to anyone at the table, a tenet from the rulebook that I do follow.
Anyway, the next day, I reheated the leftovers. Just the scraps from the pan-all the fish was gone. The charmoula-an ultra lemony Moroccan parsley marinade-had time in the oven to sink further into the vegetables and garbanzos that had cooked alongside the snapper filets, and as they roasted, they softened and grew tangy and tasty and flavorful. The potatoes, in particular, were way better than the night before.
When a dish improves at its second serving, you make a note, because that means you should cook a huge pan of it and serve it under eggs for lunch or dinner all week. And that’s just what I did on Saturday morning: cleaned out the fridge, made a new batch of charmoula, added a few of the other ingredients from the fish tagine (namely olive oil and tomato paste), and roasted vegetables right in it for the express purpose of having leftovers or a side dish all week.
We ate the veggies like hash browns next to our eggs and toast, as a starch beneath some extra meatballs, and of course, underneath fried eggs. They’re already gone.
**Recipe**
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup parsley leaves (a few stems are fine)
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 large turnip, peeled and diced
- 1 sweet potatoes, diced
- About 6 Yukon gold potatoes, diced
- 1 apple, peeled and diced
- 1 onion, sliced
- Olive oil
- 1 egg
- Plain yogurt (I like strained whole milk)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- To make the charmoula, put the the garlic, paprika, cayenne, and salt in a food processor and pulse to pulverize. Add the parsley and pulse a few more times to chop well. Then, add the lemon juice, olive oil, and tomato paste and process again until you've got a nice smooth sauce.
- Place the vegetables in a pan or oven-safe pot with a lid. You might actually need two pots--you want the vegetables in about two layers. Toss with the sauce so all the veggies are covered. Cover the pans tightly with foil or the pots with their lids. Bake for 45 minutes, until the veggies are soft. Then, remove the lids, turn the heat up to 400°F and cook another 20 minutes, until the tops of the veggies have gotten a slight crust. Taste for salt, adding more as needed. Serve warm, room temp, or cold, or reheat covered in the oven or the pan.
- To serve with an egg, heat a small pan over high heat. Film generously with olive oil. Crack in the egg and sprinkle with salt. Baste the egg with the olive oil until the bottom is crispy and the whites on the top have solidified. Transfer the egg to a bowl filled with the veggies and top with some yogurt.
Round Meals: Dinner’s in the Bowl 
